IRRESPONSIBLE dog owners are being targeted in a new campaign after complaints about dog mess in Louth.

The Not On My Street campaign has been launched by East Lindsey District Council and partner organisations to encourage dog owners to clear up after their pets and for people to report offenders.

District councillors in Louth, concerned residents and Louth's Mayor Jill Makinson-Sanders were part of a tour of the main hotspots in Louth, led by East Lindsey District Council's enforcement team and dog wardens.

District Councillor Philip Sturman said: "Speaking as a dog owner, I feel we have got to shame them into being responsible.

"My grandson was sledging in the snow on Westgate Fields and he ended up covered in it.

"Where I live in Legbourne, we have a terrible problem with dog mess on our footpaths.

"I urge people to report offenders. Louth has got such a good reputation and these people are besmirching it."

Louth Mayor Councillor Jill Makinson-Sanders said Westgate Fields is a problem with dog owners letting their pets go for a run while they stay in their cars, then whistle for the dog to come back.

She said: "As a granny I have every sympathy with young mums who have to struggle with prams and push chairs along dirty streets and with my mother in a wheelchair I know it is very unpleasant for the disabled too. The problem usually gets a lot worse in winter and certainly it has been bad this year, with dog mess melting on the snowy pavements.

"There really is no excuse for owners allowing their dogs to use our footpaths and we should have zero tolerance against offenders."

Councillor Pauline Watson said there is also a problem in St Mary's Lane Cemetery area.

She said: "From the first snow fall, people let their dogs go and the problem carries on until the spring."

In East Lindsey dog poo can be placed in both specific dog litter bins and also street litter bins.